Selling or closing an empty BV
Do you own a Dutch BV (private limited company) that no longer has any business activities? Does this BV have no assets or debts, but only a bank account? Then you may well have an ‘empty BV’. You still have costs for this BV. And you need to file this financial statement every year. Read what you can do with an empty BV.
On this page
1. Selling the empty BV
Check if you cab sell your shares. Your bank or accountant can help you with this. Before you can transfer the shares of an empty BV, you have to arrange these matters:
- Make sure that the balance sheet is correct. The asset side will be empty, but the liabilities have to be clear.
- Is the balance in the financial statement negative?Someone will have to pay for this loss. Usually the seller or major shareholder.
- The buyer must not be faced with creditors after the sale. The BV truly has to be empty and not turn out to have a negative value.
How to transfer shares of an empty BV?
A civil-law notary can take care of the transfer of the shares. The civil-law notary:
- Reports the change to the Business Register
- Updates the Shareholders’ Register
- Draws up the deed for the change in the articles of association. But only if the buyer has plans for different business activities than currently stated in the articles of association
Value of an empty BV
An empty BV is usually not worth much. However, there are costs involved if you sell your BV:
- You have to pay your accountant.
- The buyer has to pay for the transfer deed and the change in the articles of association.
- You pay the costs for advice (notary, accountant, tax adviser).
2. Ending the empty BV
If you cannot sell the empty BV, then dissolve it and close it down. The shareholders can make this decision. If the BV no longer has any assets, you can dissolve and deregister it in one go.
Read more about ending a BV.